March 26, 2009

Washington, DC—Nevada Senator Harry Reid made the following statement today after the U.S. Senate passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act:

“Even as our economy suffers and family budgets tighten, generous Americans are looking for ways to serve and give back to their country.  In fact, given the current crises, our neighbors, schools and hospitals need our help more than ever.

“Inspiring and incentivizing more Americans to serve their communities and their country will help us tackle the many serious challenges before us and help our economy recover and prosper.  That is exactly what the bipartisan Serve America Act does.

“This bill renews a spirit of national service and will make volunteering easier and even more rewarding for all Americans.  It builds on the success of the AmeriCorps program by more than tripling the number of volunteers, and creates new programs that focus on education, health care, clean energy, veterans and the economically disadvantaged

“How appropriate that this effort – the first significant investment in our service programs in nearly two decades – honors Senator Edward Kennedy, the model of public service in our country.”

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